Posts Tagged ‘US manufacturing industry’

At the AWFS Fair, held July 22-25 in Las Vegas, CNC manufacturer C.R. Onsrud made sure attendees knew, that amongst a market heavily flooded with foreign manufacturers, C.R. Onsrud makes its machinery here in the U.S.

“We want customers to know, that while foreign-based machine companies from across the Atlantic and Pacific are flooding the CNC market with light-weight, products, there is still a high-quality American manufacturer they can turn to as a choice to fill their CNC machinery needs,” states Marketing Director, Matt Jenkins.

With AWFS now wrapped up, C.R. Onsrud has announced it accomplished major goals during this year’s event. “AWFS is a show we’ve loyally supported for years with our attendance – even when other companies dropped their support and attendance,” says Tom Onsrud, CEO. “We understand the importance of the western U.S. as a viable CNC market, and have maintained our relationship with the show and customers in the Western region for many consecutive years – when the other major CNC manufacturers did not see the importance or value of attending.”

The 2015 Spring NBMDA Quarterly Sales Trends Report, a robust benchmarking and forecasting tool, surveyed both distributor and manufacturer members of the North American Building Material Distribution Association (NBMDA) to deliver invaluable data and insights. The report provides NBMDA members with information on near term and regional demand trends, sales forecasts and business management.

Overall, NBMDA distributor and manufacturer respondents are off to strong start in 2015. March was the strongest month of 1Q for respondents, and the strong trends continued through April. In addition, more than 70 percent of both distributors and manufacturers plan to add headcount in 2015.

Distributors saw demand improve through Q1 with March up 10 percent compared to four percent growth in January and February. The report indicated that distributors are forecasting six percent plus growth across flooring, board & panels, hardware & storage, and specialty building materials in 2015.

Manufacturer-specific insights from the report showed that manufacturer respondents also saw momentum improve through Q1, continuing into early Q2. Hardware & Storage is projected to be the strongest category in 2015.

“This robust benchmarking data has been an exceptional tool for our members,” said NBMDA Executive Vice President Kevin Gammonley. “The report allows NBMDA to support members by providing insights on trends their peers are experiencing.”

On April 29, Governor Terry McAuliffe announced that The Corsi Group, a leading manufacturer of custom and semi-custom cabinetry, will invest approximately $5 million to establish its first Virginia manufacturing operation in Charlotte County. Virginia successfully competed against Kentucky for the project, which will create 110 new jobs.

Governor McAuliffe said, “The addition of more than 100 new jobs is significant news for Charlotte County as it continues to rebound economically. As The Corsi Group expands its footprint and establishes its first East Coast manufacturing operation in Virginia, we celebrate a new corporate partner in a region that offers a robust, skilled workforce and improved cost competitiveness to the company’s expanding customer base. This new manufacturing operation will complement the existing industry base in Southern Virginia well, and we look forward to the mutual benefit and success for Charlotte County and Corsi.”

Headquartered in Indianapolis, The Corsi Group was founded in 1973 as a designer and manufacturer of custom cabinetry, and today has completed more than 50,000 projects.

“We are confident in our choice of Charlotte County as our best for quality labor, a business-friendly governmental environment, and area supporting companies with whom we will work,” said Pat Corsi, founder, chairman and CEO of The Corsi Group. “We plan to continue our past practices of community involvement to add local value beyond the jobs we will be creating.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) worked with Charlotte County and Virginia’s Growth Alliance to help secure the project for Virginia. Governor McAuliffe approved a $100,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to assist Charlotte County with the project. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved $375,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds for the project.

The Reshoring Initiative, an organization committed to helping manufacturers recognize the profit potential of utilizing local sourcing and production, has published its annual data report on reshoring trends, and the news is good. More than 60,000 manufacturing jobs were brought to the U.S. by reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI) combined in 2014, representing a 400 percent increase since 2003.

With only 30,000 – 50,000 jobs being offshored to other countries in 2014, the resulting net gain of 10,000 or more jobs per year represents a shift in the right direction. By comparison in 2003, the U.S. lost net about 140,000 manufacturing jobs per year to offshoring. The steady decrease in the number of jobs lost, capped by a net gain last year, is building confidence that reshoring and FDI are important contributing factors to the country’s manufacturing rebound.

Data for this report comes from the Reshoring Initiative’s Reshoring Library of more than 2,000 published articles, privately submitted reshoring case studies and some other privately documented cases. The report provides data and analysis in 13 different categories ranging from the number of manufacturing jobs lost to offshoring and reasons cited for reshoring to a breakdown of data by industry, country, region and state. It also includes an international summary of cases reshored to other countries

Of particular interest are the reasons companies gave for reshoring and FDI. Government incentives, the skilled workforce, capitalizing on the value of a Made in USA label, and automation topped the list in 2014. At the same time, companies cited lower quality, long lead times, high freight costs and rising wages as reasons against offshoring.

“We publish this data annually to show companies that the trend in manufacturing in the U.S. is to source domestically,” said Harry Moser, founder and president of the Reshoring Initiative. “With 3 to 4 million manufacturing jobs still off shore, we see huge potential for even more growth and hope this data will motivate more companies to reevaluate their sourcing and siting decisions.”

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For a fourth straight year, Kentucky industrial employment grew, though at a slower pace than in previous years, reports the 2015 Kentucky Manufacturers Register, a manufacturers database and directory published by Manufacturers’ News Inc (MNI). According to data collected by MNI, Kentucky manufacturers added 1,448 industrial jobs, or about a half percent from October 2013 to October 2014, compared to the 2.6% the state gained over the 2012-2013 survey period.

Manufacturers’ News reports Kentucky is now home to 5,115 manufacturers employing 285,789 workers. The industrial publisher has recorded a 3.9 percent increase in the state’s manufacturing jobs since October 2010, recovering about a quarter of the losses suffered during the recession.

Detailed profiles of all Kentucky manufacturers can be found in the 2015 Kentucky Manufacturers Register available in print or online at www.manufacturersnews.com.

A California furniture manufacturer is leading a manufacturing revival in Union City, Tennessee. MIA Seating has committed some $39.5 million to develop a manufacturing plant in early 2015 in the city that was stung three years ago by the shutdown of a Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. plant.

MIA is expected to employ more than 500 people in the Union City factory, according to Darius Mir, company president.

The effort also represents a reshoring move by MIA, which had previously relied on Chinese manufacturing. In an article in the Memphis Business Journal, Mir was quoted as saying, “We could compete with China and be close to the market. We ended up in Union City because we’re able to reach 70 percent of our major markets.”

Mir predicted 100 employees would be on board in the new plant by the end of 2015. If all goes according to plan, the company would expand with an additional 200,000 square feet of manufacturing space and 31,000 square feet of office space.

“This is an excellent area from the distribution and manufacturing point of view,” Mir said. “We want to have a good place for our employees.”

The omnibus spending bill passed by the U.S. Senate on Saturday night included two bipartisan manufacturing bills to create a national manufacturing strategy and expand a national network of manufacturing innovation institutes.

The bipartisan American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act will require the development of a national manufacturing strategy that is revisited by the administration every four years. The goal is to ensure the international competitiveness of the traditional and high-tech manufacturers that currently employ nearly 12 million Americans. It was co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill, and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.

The omnibus spending bill also included the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act, which seeks to expand a national network of manufacturing innovation institutes. The hubs, modeled on the eight that the administration has announced thus far, will bring together businesses, universities, and local public officials to conduct research, job training, and manufacturing all under the same roof. The bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

“American manufacturing has the ability to provide good jobs and drive strong growth far into the future,” said Coons, a member of the Appropriations Committee and leader of the Senate Democrats’ Manufacturing Jobs for America campaign. “It’s time we catch up to our competitors around the globe and create the kind of national strategy and network of manufacturing innovation hubs that the most advanced economies have long boasted. The bipartisan manufacturing bills passed this weekend would take important steps to build a strong foundation for the 21st century manufacturing economy America’s workers and businesses deserve.”